Learning to Live
by Minor Augmentation
Summary: With Son Goku dead following the conclusion of the Cell Games, Seventeen realizes that he lacks a true purpose in life. As he makes an attempt to get accustomed to a normal lifestyle, can Seventeen find something beyond a reason for existing?
1. Prologue: Finally Free

**Learning to Live**

 **Summary** : With Son Goku dead following the conclusion of the Cell Games, Seventeen realizes that he lacks a true purpose in life. As he makes an attempt to get accustomed to a normal lifestyle, can Seventeen find something beyond a reason for existing?

This is a story meant to entail the life of Seventeen between the Cell Games and the Tournament of Power, a 13-year gap. This will include how he ultimately became a park ranger, met his eventual wife, and many other elements.

 **Disclaimer** : The Dragon Ball franchise and all of its characters belong to Akira Toriyama.

 **Prologue – Finally Free**

" _You should have listened to your friend!"_

That was the phrase that kept replaying and repeating in his mind. Had he not been so arrogant, so foolish, so overconfident…

He, his sister, and their friend would have all been _fine_ and able to continue on with the game of finding Goku. Instead, his thirst for amusement ultimately led to his capture and integration into this monster, aided in severely damaging his close friend, and made an opening for his sister to join his fate in becoming nothing more than a power-source for the Earth's current nightmare.

The past ten days had worn heavily on Seventeen, with this living nightmare constantly chipping away at his once-unbreakable sense of self. When he had been absorbed, Seventeen had expected death to follow. In the short period of time since his permanent activation, he had only experienced fear when he saw that horrible creature's tail open up to beckon him towards hell. However, Seventeen had not only kept his life, but also was granted consciousness inside Cell's body. Witnessing the subsequent attack on Sixteen was maddening, but when Cell had used his voice to try and persuade Eighteen to join him, Seventeen truly felt powerless and broken. Even though she had seen through Cell's devious plan, Eighteen joined him just hours later in their mutual void of suffering.

Now, their hopes rested with a mere kid who clearly lacked not only the requisite power to stand up to Cell, but also the desire to fight at all. Worst of all, Seventeen had no choice but to observe. Cell had such control over his "perfect" body that he could redistribute the damage he accumulated so that Seventeen and Eighteen would remain unharmed. Beyond that, neither cyborg could call upon their respective power. There was no way to launch an attack from inside Cell: he had full control of their perpetual energy sources, and attempting to activate their self-destruct devices would take far too long and alert Cell to interrupt the sequence.

In a mere two weeks time, Seventeen had gone from the self-proclaimed "Ultimate Android" to a mere battery. Dr. Gero had managed to somehow get the best of him again: first by removing his humanity and making him one of his pet projects, and then stripping him of his pride and purpose by relegating his purpose in life to make Cell complete. Somehow, a fate worse than death awaited both Seventeen and Eighteen.

"Damn it! If only I had just listened to Piccolo and Sixteen and escaped when I had the chance...none of this would have happened."

" _Still brooding, Android 17? Even had you successfully escaped me on that isl and, I would have eventually found you. Piccolo proved to be no match, and with just a bit more bioextract from a different city, I would have had all the power I needed to destroy Android 16. You would have never been able to escape your destiny!"_

"I promise you: I will find a way out of here and kill you by my own hands! You won't win!"

Cell, highly amused by Seventeen's defiance, cackled in response.

" _You seem so confident, 17. Who among this pathetic lot can defeat me? Piccolo, Krillin, and Vegeta have all been beaten within an inch of their life by me once before. Tenshinhan couldn't even damage us before we merged with 18. Trunks has the raw power, but his inability to calculate in battle and utter lack of awareness regarding his limitations makes him nothing more than child's play. Goku has already fought and is not only exhausted, but lacks access to the Senzu to recover back to full strength. Surely you don't believe anyone here could possibly stop us?"_

Cell paused, as if he were considering something momentarily, before continuing.

" _It seems you forgot about the last time you showed such futile resistance. Perhaps another lesson in pain is in order? Perhaps our sister can join in on your pain as well!"_

" **Leave Eighteen out of this, you freak!** " Seventeen was seething in anger, while Eighteen was worriedly observing the conversation between the two. It was bad enough that his sister was ultimately in this situation because of him, but he refused to let her get hurt for his actions any longer.

Suddenly, Cell was distracted by a new fighter entering the fray. To the horror of both Seventeen and Eighteen, it was Sixteen, draped over Cell in what was surely a last-ditch suicidal effort.

"Sixteen, no! What do you think you're doing? You can't expect to beat him! You'll be killed!" Eighteen cried out, pleading for the taller android to reconsider.

"Sixteen, get out of there!" Seventeen was horrified at the events unfolding in front of him.

"I will kill him by self-destructing. I have a powerful explosive embedded deep in my body. It was intended to be a last resort. I am sorry that we androids have caused so much suffering here on the Earth."

'No way,' Seventeen thought. Is Sixteen trying to atone for the sins of Gero and Cell by giving up his own life?

"Cell, you destroy life. You are a parasite to this planet, and I see now that this is the best way to destroy you. Dr. Gero's sick ambition to terrorize the world through us will ultimately be put to rest by his own devices."

With that, Sixteen began to power up and initiate his self-destruct sequence.

" **Sixteen, it doesn't have to end this way! Please, stop!** "

In a cruel twist of fate, the sequence did stop, but not because Seventeen had pleaded for it.

" **WHAT? Something is wrong. The trigger's gone!** "

Oh no...if the trigger was missing, then that meant that whoever had repaired Sixteen had discovered the bomb and removed it.

" _Well, well: I was only hoping to terrorize the Earth through the Cell Games, but seeing the look on both of your faces is delightful! But, my dear brother and sister: the fun has only just begun!"_

"Cell, what do you mean?" But before he could finish, Cell began speaking.

"Sorry, 16. I'm staying. But if you have a death wish, far be it from me to let you down."

" _Don't blink, or you'll miss what you're about to do to your friend!"_

" **DON'T DO IT, CELL! PLEASE STOP!** "

The blast, formed by Seventeen and Eighteen's energy, completely eradicated Sixteen's body.

"16. His petty existence proved Dr. Gero had his flaws." And with one final kick, Sixteen's head crashed into a mountain and disappeared out of sight.

" **You monster…you destroyed Sixteen! I'll kill you: I swear I will!** " Seventeen screamed and tried to attack, but every movement was futile.

" _Really, now? Still resisting, 17? Then allow me to introduce an even greater degree of pain for the both of you!"_

Seventeen and Eighteen, still utterly shocked at the destruction of their friend, had no idea what Cell could have meant. The twins did not notice Cell counting the people on the cliffs and opening his tail up until they felt the pain surging through them. Both Seventeen and Eighteen screamed in agony.

"What's happening?"

" _Heh. You two are powering my children."_

"Your what?"

" _My children. Thanks to both of your infinite energy supplies, each Cell J_ _unior_ _I create can retain power close to that of my own without costing me any stamina or fatigue. Since your power supplies are limitless, I can produce as many children as I please. I only need the two of you to be alive: it is my gift to you that the two of you are conscious at all right now."_

Neither Seventeen nor Eighteen were able to respond to Cell, as the pain almost knocked them unconscious.

" _For now, I need just seven children. But later, perhaps we can play one of those games you enjoy so dearly, Android 17. We can try and set personal bests on how many children the two of you can produce for me before passing out. After all, we'll have all eternity together to keep each other company!"_

Finally, the searing pain subsided from Seventeen and Eighteen's bodies.

" _Now, just enjoy the fireworks! Who will be the first to fall? Isn't this just marvelous, brother and sister?_ "

This whole exercise to Cell was just a game, Seventeen realized. And to his horror, the cyborg realized that he had been acting the same way from the time he was first activated. Causing fear and chaos through mayhem was incredibly fun and satisfying, but now Seventeen saw his actions from the other perspective. Perhaps this is why Eighteen would always scold him about not taking things seriously and failing to work efficiently. But Seventeen's games were not out of malice. Finding and fighting Goku was not about killing him: that would be following Dr. Gero's programming, and that was the last thing he wanted to do, especially after Gero had disabled their control mechanisms.

No: the game regarding Goku was to see the extent of Sixteen's fighting capabilities. The truck was to give himself a human experience after Gero had taken them from him: flying and ki blasts were things he was now capable of, but things that he would refuse to use except for combat.

Cell, on the other hand, set up his game to cause global suffering. Yes: Seventeen was not entirely innocent in his games either: he stole a truck and injured some members of a bike gang, but Cell was choosing to prolong and maximize suffering before ending people's lives.

"Playtime is over, children! You can kill them now!"

In the flurry of action, Cell, Seventeen, and Eighteen were interrupted by a noise between them and Gohan and stunned when they identified the cause of the noise.

" _So, the hunk of junk is back for more punishment, huh? I guess he will be the first true loser of the Cell Games today!"_

" **You had better not even think about it!** " Seventeen was distraught. Sixteen couldn't run, and Cell was closing in on him. Barring a miracle, he knew that this was the end for his friend. Seventeen knew that he wouldn't be able to thank him for going along with his shenanigans, for trying to protect him. Seventeen knew that he wouldn't even be able to say goodbye.

When Sixteen began talking to Gohan, Seventeen almost felt like the tall android was talking to him as well.

"Seventeen, let it go...it is because you cherish life that you must protect it. Please...protect the life I loved. You have the strength...just...let it go."

And with those words, Cell brought his foot down and crushed Sixteen, destroying him completely. Mockingly, it felt like Cell was not only talking to Gohan, but also to Seventeen.

" _Yet another fighter you could have saved. What a pitiful excuse for an android. 16 truly was a failure in every aspect._ "

Seventeen felt something in him snap. For the first time, he felt tears, and he knew Eighteen was sobbing over the death of their friend.

" **YOU BASTARD: I'LL KILL YOU!** "

When the planet began to quake, Seventeen wondered if it he had awakened a new power, but it was Gohan. Quickly, he stole the Senzu beans back from Cell, dismantled all seven Cell Juniors, and engaged in combat with Cell. To the amazement of all three, none could believe what they were seeing: not only had Gohan unlocked a new level of power, but Cell was both lacking in speed and unable to deal any damage.

" _Time to get serious!"_

The pain flared for both Seventeen and Eighteen again as Cell raised his power to the maximum. He had been holding back this much this whole time?

But even Cell's absolute maximum was meaningless. In two hits, Cell was severely damaged and unable to entirely redistribute the damage away from the twins. Seventeen doubled over in pain, shocked at the dramatic turn of events. Each successive attack and tactic proved futile, until Cell decided to power up a Kamehameha wave large enough to detonate the planet. Even that, however, ended up reflected back.

Two punches and a Kamehameha: in three strikes, the "perfect" warrior had been reduced to a bloody mess of half-limbs.

" _That brat! I will kill him even if it means the death of everyone!_ "

"Cell, stop!" Seventeen saw that Cell was irrational, but he was unable to stop the bioengineered warrior from going berserk.

The energy strain on Cell's body was reaching a breaking point, but the pain from the attacks had also knocked Eighteen entirely unconscious. Seventeen's body was so wholly focused on the pain that it took almost all of his willpower to just stay conscious. He couldn't even cry out in pain as Cell tried to achieve an even greater level of strength.

Cell's new, bulky form was unable to match Gohan at all. The form lost speed and consumed far too much energy for the power boost, and in one kick to the face, Cell was staggering.

Seventeen felt Cell's total control slipping, and he realized that he had access to his perpetual energy again. The damage, regeneration, and fatigue necessary to maintain this form meant that Cell could not keep everything under control, which meant that maybe, just maybe, there was an opening.

"You want a power boost, big guy? Well I've got energy to spare for you!" Seventeen started firing out energy, trying to further loosen the insect-looking android's control. He had no idea what to expect, but this was a chance that may not come again. After taking a powerful kick to the stomach from Gohan, along with Seventeen overloading energy and chaos internally, Cell's body began to fail. From the inside, Seventeen realized that Cell had accumulated damage and stress to the point where his body was rejecting what was inside. Seventeen saw his major opportunity and tried to capitalize on the miracle.

"Just a bit further: I can almost do it!"

" _Android 17, I command you to stop! You'll regret this! Cut it out!_ "

"Not a chance! Eat this!"

With one final burst, Cell's body gave out and Eighteen was freed. Cell had been unable to meet the unsustainable energy demands put on by his power, damage, and regeneration, and Seventeen felt his captor's power fade down into his second stage.

"So, it was possible for you to devolve into this state. It's only a matter of time before I'm out of here as well." Seventeen observed, pleased with the progress. Cell's body, mind, and ki were completely off balance, and with just a minor push, Seventeen could free himself as well. He just needed one more opening.

" _It won't be that easy, Seventeen. Now that our loss against Gohan is confirmed, it is time for everyone to die!_ "

"You're bluffing, you overgrown cicada. You don't have a trump card that can defeat Gohan, let alone kill him. On top of that, your systems are wildly uncalibrated."

" _Ah, but you are not entirely correct. Even in this state, I can constantly expend enough energy_ _to destroy you all!_ _I shall take a page out of your friend's book and self-destruct, destroying the whole planet! Even if I just have your power, I can generate enough of an explosion to take the whole Earth down with me!_ "

Cell had begun to swell with energy. Gohan had created the opening, but it was Cell who capitalized on it instead. Just as they had with Seventeen, arrogance and hubris had cost the half-Saiyan the fight against Cell, along with the fate of the planet.

In an instant, Seventeen had lost his chance at freedom and life.

And then, right in front of them, Goku materialized. Gero's nemesis gave his farewell before putting his fingers to his forehead. Seventeen and Cell both recognized that as his skill that allowed for teleportation.

In an instant, Seventeen realized he was at a faraway planet while Cell was on the verge of detonating. He realized that these were his last moments for real, but unlike when he was being absorbed, Seventeen felt at peace. He would be free of this hell inside Cell. He might be able to see Sixteen again. He managed to free Eighteen and gave her a potential chance at life. Even with death staring him down, Seventeen found himself smiling and eagerly awaiting its embrace. After all, death was preferable to an eternity in captivity. In the end, despite the mess he had created, Seventeen had done everything he could to fix things and repented in his own way. Perhaps he would eventually even be forgiven for his mistakes.

And then, his vision went white.

 **A/N:** This is a lengthy prologue, but I wanted to give some context on the Cell Games after it was revealed in Dragon Ball Super Chapter 31 that Seventeen was conscious and aware of the events after his absorption (this could also have been inferred in Episode 87, when Seventeen acknowledges that he died on King Kai's planet after being transported there via Instant Transmission).

I use a lot of quotes from the English dub, but Seventeen's character will be more based on the original Japanese script. The dub portrayed Seventeen as someone who is extremely condescending towards humans. In the Japanese version, Eighteen notes on a number of occasions that many of Seventeen's actions reflect that he has a little bit of humanness still inside him (such as Episode 146, when the trio are off-roading. Eighteen blasts the trail to make a more comfortable drive, and Seventeen comments that this was no fun. Eighteen makes the humanness comment there).

I switch between referencing Seventeen, Eighteen, and Sixteen by spelling the names out and using the numbers, but this is intentional. The main difference is based on character perception: when Cell talks about the androids, he sees the cyborgs as pure power sources and Sixteen as a failure, hence just referencing all three by model number. However, spelling the entire word out treats the designation as not a number, but a name. It's meant to illustrate that different characters see the twins as just androids and machines (think Mirai Trunks), while some might take a more human perception of the two (think Krillin).

Please remember to leave a review and let me know how I can improve for future chapters!


	2. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

**Summary** : After the Cell Games, Seventeen is lost. He realizes that Gero's sole purpose for him was to give Cell power to be the ultimate android. With Son Goku dead, he has no purpose anymore. As Seventeen tries to discover his reason for existence, can he discover more?

This is a story meant to entail the life of Seventeen between the Cell Games and the Tournament of Power, a 13-year gap. This will include how he ultimately became a park ranger, met his eventual wife, and many other elements.

 **Disclaimer** : The Dragon Ball franchise and all of its characters belong to Akira Toriyama.

 **Chapter 1 – A New Beginning**

Just as quickly as he had embraced his death, Seventeen found himself very much alive again. He looked around and realized that he was at the battlefield of the Cell Games, but with nobody else in sight. Around him was a crater, the site of an obvious struggle. However, Seventeen knew this crater had not been there when he had perished inside Cell.

Had that monster really been defeated? Or was this the beginning of the end? The cyborg truly did not know, as he was unable to detect ki. Seventeen shifted into an alert, fighting stance: if there really was nobody around, then perhaps Cell had won after all. Maybe that also explained why the sky was pitch-black.

Seventeen quickly did an internal diagnostics checkup and found that his systems were fully functional. How he had come back to life, he did not know, but everything was fully operational and in the right place.

Suddenly, Seventeen felt a small part of his body vanish, as if it had never been there. A quick follow-up scan revealed that his self-destruct device, which had existed just seconds earlier, had disappeared without a trace.

After a flash, the sky gradually returned to its normal blue color. Seventeen kept his guard up, tensed in case of combat. However, he was beginning to suspect that perhaps the fight was truly over. Despite this theory, it ultimately gave him no answers his questions.

What was happening? Where was everybody? Why was his bomb missing? Where was Eighteen? Why had the sky suddenly changed from pitch black to clear in an instant?

Seventeen surveyed the area again, looking for any signs of his twin sister. Was she alive? Dead? Unconscious? Safe? For a few minutes, Seventeen kept an eye out for someone: anyone, friend or foe.

Nothing. The only thing providing company to Seventeen was the slight desert breeze.

Suddenly, Seventeen heard someone approaching overhead. He tensed, in case it was Cell, but to his surprise, Eighteen descended to meet him.

"So it's really true. You really are alive, Seventeen." Eighteen remarked, with a look of relief on her face.

Relieved himself that Eighteen was alive and safe, Seventeen relaxed his muscles and felt the tension wash away.

"Surprisingly, yeah. I'm guessing Cell's gone?"

"Yeah. Goku's friends summoned this dragon called Shenlong and wished all of Cell's victims

back to life. It's apparently able to grant just about any wish."

Ah: so that was it. A magic dragon. Such a thing seemed logically impossible, but so was being alive after dying. One question answered, but so many more remained.

"The bomb inside me is gone. What happened, Eighteen?" Seventeen hoped to at least get the easy questions out of the way first.

"That little old guy asked Shenlong to do that for us."

"Little old guy?" A new question. In their databases, there was nobody who really matched that description.

"I think his name is Krillin or something."

The mini-monk?

"Why? What does he have to gain from that?"

"I don't know." Seventeen saw the slightest scoff and hint of annoyance from Eighteen.

' _Funny way to phrase that, considering we have an entire database on Goku and his friends: surely she knows who he is. Besides, she did kiss him.'_

Still, Seventeen felt...grateful? He and Eighteen had singled out Krillin as the one person among Goku's group of friends that they could mess with and tease. Seventeen recalled intentionally motioning towards Krillin immediately after killing Gero just to intimidate him. The entire ordeal had been highly amusing. He presumed Eighteen had kissed him on the cheek for similar reasons (though perhaps not to frighten him, although the short man had been quite terrified of her before the act).

And he had asked a wish-granting dragon to remove their self-destruct devices, over anything in the world?

"Seventeen, removing the bombs wasn't his original wish." He turned to Eighteen, puzzled, but curious.

"Wait, didn't you say that the dragon could grant any wish?"

"No: I said just about any wish. I guess your aural systems aren't fully functional. His original wish was for us to become human beings again."

Now there was a surprise. Perhaps his auditory functions really were malfunctioning. Krillin had tried to wish them into being human beings again? That guy had removed the self-destruct devices from him and his sister only because they weren't able to be fully human?

Humans really are a strange group. Krillin and his group of friends, although not entirely human, were the strangest group of them all, he was sure. Seventeen also knew that he was unquestionably grateful towards the short monk.

"Interesting. If I see him again, I'll have to thank him. Maybe I won't mess with him anymore." Seventeen smirked towards his sister, who seemed to want to do anything to avoid the topic.

Suddenly, a new question entered Seventeen's brain. The thought made him brighten up and smile for the first time since the Cell ordeal.

"Hey Eighteen, if I got wished back to life, then where is Sixteen? Shouldn't he be around here as well? It'll be great to get the gang back together!"

At that, Eighteen's expression dropped.

"I...I don't know, Seventeen. I didn't see him on my way here. If he got wished back, then he should have been brought back somewhere around this place, right? But it's just the two of us out here. Which means..."

Eighteen was struggling to finish her sentence, as the implications were ones she wished weren't true.

"But we can't be certain, Eighteen. Just because we haven't seen him doesn't mean Sixteen isn't around, right?" The black-haired cyborg cut in, attempting to find even the smallest sliver of hope to cling to. His friend had to be alive: he **had** to be. After all, Seventeen himself was standing, living, and breathing after having perished, so why couldn't Sixteen?

"Seventeen." Eighteen's voice was cold as she reached into the pocket of her jeans and held out something towards her brother.

A chip. One familiar to the both of them. The chip they had seen when their captor had mercilessly stepped on the head of their only friend.

Seventeen took the last remnant of his friend from his sister, staring blankly at the cold reminder of his friend. Hope slipped away and the color drained from Seventeen's face as he quickly arrived to the same conclusion as his twin.

Sixteen really was gone. For good.

"Oh."

The twins made eye contact after Seventeen's single word died into the desert wind. In his shock, Seventeen dropped Sixteen's chip into the sand.

Silence remained between the two twins before Seventeen raised his voice, brimming with rage and disbelief.

"That's a load of bullshit, Eighteen. What do you mean he wasn't brought back? If the damn dragon can bring me back from death, why can't it do the same for Sixteen?"

"Don't lash out at me, Seventeen! I don't know how the hell the damn wishes work, and you know damn well that I want Sixteen back just as much as you do!"

Seventeen was on the brink of entirely losing his composure.

"Not one of us deserved to a chance to live more than Sixteen. What's the damn point of any of this if he isn't here?"

And then, he snapped. In his fury, Seventeen couldn't help but form energy blasts and fire them haphazardly at the deserted area around him.

" **Damn you, Cell! Damn you, Gero! All you did was ruin all three of our lives! I should have been the one to kill both of you! Both of you can rot!** "

It didn't matter that Seventeen was causing a scene, that Son Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, or any of the others could have responded to the scene and terminated his life on the spot. All that mattered was his hatred reaching his tormentors in Hell.

"Seventeen, **STOP!** Cool your head, damn it! If you keep this up, someone's going to notice, and you'll be killed!" Eighteen seized her twin brother by the wrists, momentarily stopping his rampage.

"You want me to be cool, Eighteen? Why don't you-"

 ***SMACK***

Eighteen's slap reverberated with the aftershocks of the numerous explosions around the twins. Smoke and shock filled the air.

"Seventeen, stop being so damn selfish! You aren't the only one who lost Sixteen, and you sure as hell aren't the only one who's hurting too!"

Silently, Seventeen was seething. Selfish? How was he being **selfish**? All he saw was the cruelty and unfairness of the world, and he just wanted to express his anger. If this represented selfishness, then Seventeen would be glad to wear that title with pride.

"Damn it, Seventeen! Sixteen was basically a brother to me too, and I lost him! **We** lost him to that **monster**! But I'm not about to lose you too, not immediately after finding you alive! Not after I thought I'd never see you again when you got absorbed!"

Eighteen's words finally reached Seventeen, and he fell to his knees. He **was** being selfish, only thinking of how he felt and ignoring his sister in the process. The sister he had put in danger and done everything in his power to free from Cell. He knew Eighteen was not one to show much outward emotion, but he could tell from her voice that she was on the verge of tears.

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do, Eighteen? They took everything. Our purpose, our reason for existence, our only friend: there's nothing left for us here."

His voice came out so meekly. How pathetic. The "strongest android" was reduced to this pathetic state. Seventeen truly felt small and powerless when facing the reality that he really had nothing and was nothing.

Eighteen herself felt lost. She knew that she struggled to handle emotional situations well. But what could she do now? Seventeen had a point, that the twins were put into the world only to be cast aside and thrown away for a newer ambition. They were deemed expendable, branded as failures.

Knowing that, she made a silent resolution to herself. Taking a deep breath, she began to voice that resolution to her brother, who seemed to need the direction more than she did.

"We live, Seventeen. We make our own reason for living, and we go for it. Gero never had control over our actions, and he sure as hell isn't going to win. Not with me, anyway."

Eighteen steadied herself before steeling her gaze at her younger twin. This might be harsh, but Seventeen needed to hear this, and if not from her, he might never hear it at all.

"Gero can't ever have the last laugh over us if we never give him an opportunity to. We're free from everything now, aren't we? We can live our lives and overcome some damn programming and commands. We can live without being ordered around. If Sixteen overcame his programming, wouldn't he want the same for us? Wouldn't he want us to continue living in the world he gave everything to protect?"

Seventeen still wouldn't look up at his sister, but Eighteen continued to pace herself towards the finish line.

"Sixteen didn't die so that we could throw our lives away. And no amount of self-loathing or guilt will bring him back if a magic wish-granting dragon can't. So I'm going to do the only thing I can do: accept it and move forward, no matter how terrible it is. Because it's not good or bad: this is just how things are. And I'm going to make sure that his memory never dies by actually living and making him proud, wherever he is."

"So Seventeen, get up. Honor our best friend's memory and overcome Gero's ambitions through your own life. Yes: it's unfair that we get to be here while our brother isn't, but if we don't live, then Sixteen tried to protect us for nothing in the end."

She was right, as usual. But it wasn't going to be that easy or instantaneous for Seventeen to accept things as they were in the way Eighteen had.

No, he was still in denial that he could be alive, but Sixteen couldn't be. His friend had to be out there, somewhere. Perhaps he had been brought back but left the site of the Cell Games immediately. Yes: that was entirely possible. Not likely, but...possible.

It was entirely unlike Seventeen to just abandon logic. But if logic failed to create a path where Sixteen was alive, then he would forgo it to find even the one illogical one that would lead to a life with his friend. Hell: becoming a cyborg, time travel, and resurrection were illogical in their own way, and Seventeen himself had experienced each of those in the span of these ten days.

That minute possibility was what Seventeen decided to cling to as he rose to his own two feet. Now, to play it off as if he were totally fine.

"Sorry about that, Eighteen. I got all that out of my system, so I'll keep my cool." A small smirk appeared on Seventeen's face.

Eighteen saw through the facade almost immediately and knew her brother wasn't entirely accepting of their friend's death, but she couldn't force the issue any more than she already had. Denial, after all, was a deadly and powerful force in its own way. Every individual dealt with grief and loss in his or her own way, and she would let Seventeen handle his emotions in the way he saw fit.

But perhaps it would be best if the two of them went their separate ways for the time being. As much as Eighteen understood that it would probably be best if the twins stuck together and could grieve together, she knew she'd get to be overbearing and mess up along the way. After all, handling emotions was something she was absolutely terrible at, and it would not surprise her if that were true in her human past as well.

"Seventeen, what are you going to do now?" Even with her mind made up to split from her twin, she at least wanted the comfort in knowing what her brother had planned, even if that were wishful thinking.

"I'm going to go look for Sixteen, in case he did end up resurrected. Do some exploring and travel. You know, **human** things."

Okay, now Eighteen definitely knew she wanted to split from this. She wasn't going to feed a delusion and try to put the pieces back together when things fell apart. She didn't realize just how deep Seventeen's denial ran, but the combination of that and her younger twin's desire to go back to being human was absolutely lethal.

"I see."

The gap between the twins wasn't much, but to Eighteen, it felt like a chasm was separating the twins, and that gap felt infinitely wide.

"Seventeen, you have fun with your adventure, but I don't want any part of it."

"Wait, didn't you just say you didn't want to lose me? And you're going to just turn your back on me? To do what, Eighteen?"

His sister turned away from him. "I don't know. Goku's dead, so we don't have any purpose now, right? I'm going to live my life freely." Eighteen paused momentarily, thinking of a small compromise before facing her twin momentarily.

"But, if you're going to look for Sixteen, then maybe we can meet occasionally to check in and make sure the other is still alive, you know?"

Seventeen couldn't believe this. But her sister was stubborn, and if she had no desire to search for Sixteen with him, then he was in this alone. Not surprising: she didn't really care for the human side of life much anyway. Too closed off from fun.

"I guess we're committed to doing our own thing. Fine. The closest place to here is Central City, so I guess every couple of months will do?"

Eighteen decided that would be fine. "Sure. The first of every other month, we meet at the entrance to Central City."

"Then I'll see you in August, sis."

"See ya."

And with that, she turned away again and took off into the sky, just as she came.

' _Sorry, Seventeen. I really don't want to leave you alone, but I don't want to be caught in the wreckage when this crashes on you. Please don't hate me for this.'_

Back at the 28-KS-5 region, Seventeen stood looking towards the direction his sister flew. His gaze fell to the sand, finding Sixteen's operating chip still there.

"Hey there, bud. I'll find you. You have to be somewhere on this ball of water, and we're going to have a great time once I do." And this adventure was going to start where it all began. Seventeen placed the memory chip in his pocket before bracing for flight.

"North we go, buddy."

 **A/N:** I included Dragon Ball Super Chapter 31 verbatim in the chapter, although I took some major liberties filling in between the lines of dialogue for this. I haven't really cared for the Super manga much at all.

I understand Seventeen seems a bit OOC, since I made his emotional state a bit more volatile this chapter, though I tried to mostly keep his general character from DBZ. In both DBZ and Super, Seventeen is pretty even-keel, even when he's intense, but he genuinely lost it in this chapter (similar to how Future Eighteen went ballistic in Episode 194). He's entered a pretty dangerous state of mind, but the ways people cope with grief are extremely varied.

I feel part of why Seventeen changed so much between DBZ and DBS is because of how deeply Sixteen affected him. All throughout the franchise, Seventeen and Eighteen embody stoicism, level-headedness, and precision. Yet even they are fallible to their emotions: we saw that with Eighteen when Krillin was eaten by Buu, but not really from Seventeen (outside of combat).

Again, please remember to review and give suggestions on how I can improve this going forward! I actually had a few different ideas on how to start this story (I have the major plot points down, but how those points all get connected took time to nail down, so this chapter took a bit of time to write as as result).


	3. Chapter 2: Revelation

**Summary** : After the Cell Games, Seventeen is lost. He realizes that Gero's sole purpose for him was to give Cell power to be the ultimate android. With Son Goku dead, he has no purpose anymore. As Seventeen tries to discover his reason for existence, can he discover more?

This is a story meant to entail the life of Seventeen between the Cell Games and the Tournament of Power, a 13-year gap. This will include how he ultimately became a park ranger, met his eventual wife, and many other elements.

 **Disclaimer** : The Dragon Ball franchise and all of its characters belong to Akira Toriyama.

 **Chapter 2 – Revelation**

Despite being a very useful ability, flying was not something Seventeen enjoyed all that much. Like his cybernetics and perpetual energy, flight was one of the unnatural, inhuman elements that Dr. Gero had given him when the scientist had changed him into a cyborg. While Eighteen chalked up her twin's fascination with driving to being a "male instinct not even science could fix", Seventeen knew that the root cause was that driving was **normal**. He was never supposed to be able to flit around the sky or produce energy from his hands.

Sure, he could do a quick scan of this planet for Sixteen in a matter of hours and proceed with his life. But Seventeen never asked for this life. From his first activation to now, all he had wanted was some normalcy and even the smallest trace of humanity.

' _We're going to do this the old-fashioned way. Normal travel, normal activities, and a normal adventure. Well, as normal as anything can be for me, I suppose.'_

As someone equally comfortable in both rural and urban areas, the idea of traveling the world was enough to excite Seventeen. After all, what could be more human than the dream of exploration? Eighteen lacked the same enthusiasm and enjoyment towards nature that Seventeen and Sixteen had, but Sixteen never showed any real interest when the trio went through towns and more industrialized areas. But Seventeen? He could find something to make even the most barren wastelands or overcrowded cities a fun experience.

Resolved with a new spin on the current game, Seventeen descended into the mountain range outside North City. While he doubted Sixteen would be in the metropolis, Seventeen wanted to be thorough in searching for his friend. While Central City was technically closer from the Cell Games, he wanted to get North City out of the way first.

It was, after all, the site of his activation. Even if he didn't have memories of stasis or deactivation, Seventeen was not overly fond of being near the lab, despite it being in ruins. But perhaps Sixteen had returned here first.

The cyborg's thoughts were interrupted by a nearby commotion. The smell of gasoline and the sound of engines filled the mountain range, presumably from some motorcycles. As Seventeen descended and approached the source of the ruckus, he saw a few dozen bikers gathered on the road.

Well, this certainly looked amusing.

Approaching the nearest member, Seventeen tapped the man on the shoulder to grab his attention. "What's happening here?"

The man aggressively slapped Seventeen's hand away, not even bothering to turn to face the young man. "Buzz off, kid. None of your business."

 _"Tch. How_ _rude.'_

"My, my. Antsy, and quite impolite, aren't we? Just thought this whole thing looked like a ton of fun. Can't a kid be curious?" A smirk found its way onto Seventeen's face. Instinct told him this was a race, and Seventeen **loved** to showcase speed.

"Damn it, kid. Didn't I tell you to-" The man couldn't even finish his sentence once he looked towards Seventeen.

"Y-y-you...you're the kid...the punk from before..."

Before? Had they met? The only time Seventeen had recalled being in this area was when he had hijacked that Lucky Foods truck and raced the…

Oh, that's where they had met before. Well, well: this just got **much** more fun.

"Fancy meeting you again in a place like this, huh pal?"

"Listen, kid! Nobody who disrespects the Toad Warriors has a right to call me pal! Shove your smug attitude up your ass and get the hell off our turf!"

Seventeen could only chuckle, unable to suppress his smugness. Watching people lose their cool was high-quality entertainment to the young man, and this proved to be no exception.

"Just indulge me, boss man. Or maybe those other bikers want to hear a nice story about how you and your crew got waxed by a bunch of punk kids in a pink food delivery truck."

The color drained instantly from the Toad Warrior's face.

"No, no, no: **PLEASE** don't do that. **Anything** but that. Just leave us what's left of our dignity! It's just a race between gang members! One person per gang! Nothing crazy or interesting!"

"A race, you say?"

Now this was one aspect Eighteen could absolutely attribute to "male instinct".

"What's the prize for winning?"

"Fifty-thousand zeni. But that's none of your business!"

Seventeen raised his eyes in intrigue. If he were really going to do this adventure the "normal" way, money would be a nice thing to have on hand. Sure, he could just steal money, and it's not as if he absolutely needed money to go on this adventure, but it would make things easier. Fifty-thousand zeni, spent wisely, could realistically last him a few months. The occasional meal here or there, maybe a new set of clothes. Hell: he could even splurge and sleep in a bed some nights if he wanted.

"How do I join this race, boss man?"

" **H** **ell no, punk!** I'm not letting you join after your stunts from last time. Not only did you humiliate the name of the Toad Warriors, but you put damn-near-everybody's life in danger on the highway!"

"Aren't we overreacting a bit?"

"Overreacting? You drove a truck through a billboard and towards a train on the tracks! You're a danger to humanity!"

Seventeen decided to let that last comment slide, even if it did royally piss him off. While he did have a point, "danger to humanity" was something he was **supposed** to be, but not.

"Call it what you want. The truth is you owe me a big favor for helping your and your buddies evade the cops. I saved you from even further embarrassment there. Not only getting beaten by a punk kid driving a delivery truck, but also getting your entire squad arrested? Hysterical, I tell you!"

Stunned into silence, the leader of the Toad Warriors couldn't find a comeback to that scathing statement.

"Pal, all I want is one race on your bike. And when I win, I want to not only keep the money, but also get double the payout. No off-roading through billboards, no train track showdowns. I'll even give you back your bike in perfect condition! One race, and I'm gone. We have a deal?"

Realizing that he either had to give up his race or his pride, the head Toad Warrior chose the former.

"Fine, but only if you win. Now, have you ever driven one of these before?"

Seventeen only chuckled.

"Never, but it can't be too hard. Handling a vehicle is just like messing with the controller of a video game. And I'm the **king** of video games."

* * *

Sure enough, the race had been a simple endeavor. And true to his word, Seventeen returned the Toad Warrior's bike in perfect condition. There had been some close calls where the leader of the Toad Warriors feared for his ride, but the kid seemed to take great amusement in flustering the other riders by getting in their space and speeding off.

But after a convincing win, no scratches to the bike, and no police intervention, the gang leader was more than willing to hand over the hundred-thousand zeni to get rid of Seventeen forever.

' _It's only natural to stock up on supplies before the grind in any game. But even this was way too easy.'_ Not that Seventeen was complaining. Even the build-up to the game was quite entertaining.

If only Eighteen were here. She'd be so proud of him negotiating his way into free money. Oh well. This would give her something to laugh at when they'd see each other in a couple months.

Nearing the entrance to North City, Seventeen began to finalize the specifics of the game.

' _The Game: Travel the World._

 _The Objective: Find Sixteen._

 _The Rules: Play as a human. No energy blasts. No super strength. No flying, unless there is no other way to get from one location to the other. The rules are void on days when visiting Eighteen.'_

The rules seemed simple enough, and he could add or revise the rules as the game progressed. Seventeen figured that he could probably tackle the individual regions of the planet in two months, give or take a couple weeks. He didn't have a specific route mapped out for his travels, but he could worry about that later. With no worries, Seventeen could just focus on the present. Why rush an adventure when it could be spread out over time? This could be the first real fun in a while!

As he entered North City, Seventeen wondered about what he should do first. Perhaps he would find a meal. After all, nothing personified rebelling against Gero than doing something exactly because he **didn't** need it. There could be worse things than indulging in human food. He had recalled enjoying some of the meat and other dishes from Son Goku's house when the trio had raided Mount Paozu looking for the Saiyan.

While browsing the streets for a place to get a snack, Seventeen came across a small bookstore. He didn't really have any need for books: his information systems were already incredibly comprehensive. What possible knowledge could he possibly gain from reading? But again, he had the freedom to do things because he wanted to, and that included the things that were absolutely meaningless to him.

Deciding this would be his first stop, Seventeen entered the store. Browsing through the shelves, Seventeen skimmed through a few titles that interested him and quickly found his initial hypothesis to be incorrect. On these shelves existed multiple topics that Seventeen had very little knowledge of. Some specific books fascinated Seventeen, and with an initial spark of curiosity, he dove into the pages.

A book on chess, its history, and theory. Seventeen found that, even if the game weren't amusing in the traditional sense, he was quite interested. After all, the cyborg enjoyed tactical games as much as he did adventure. None of this was particularly useful in the eyes of Dr. Gero, but Seventeen quickly picked up the basics and found himself following along for a few pages. Maybe he'd keep this. After all, it was as important to keep the mind sharp as the body.

A guide on various martial arts and meditation techniques. Seventeen, despite his strength, was a fairly inexperienced fighter. That showed against Piccolo during their fight on the tropical islands. The young man had presumed that he and Eighteen had had limited exposure to martial arts during their human lives, but not much. Knowing exactly how Son Goku and his friends fought was one thing, and copying the basics of their movements did help, but it all became meaningless against Cell, who had his own unique style that Seventeen had never seen and had no counters to. And without a complete idea on how to fight, Seventeen had been soundly defeated.

Even when fighting Piccolo on that island, the Namekian had outwitted him and held his own through superior fighting technique and intellect. While the two had been roughly comparable in power, Seventeen had held the edge in both speed and stamina, which he thought would make him clearly superior. Yet Seventeen found the fight to be much more difficult than anticipated, and had he made any crucial mistakes, he probably would have been finished. Yes, this book definitely could come in handy. At the very least, it would help kill time.

A couple of cookbooks. The idea of food fascinated Seventeen. His cybernetics meant that food was entirely optional, and Gero had even figured out how to shut off the cyborg's hunger response. Why would a couple of cookbooks ever be useful? And yet, Seventeen mused, abandoning logic is a key human principle during decision-making. So two books on basic cooking tips and nutrition concepts found their way into his stack.

Just as Seventeen was about to head to the register, two more titles caught his eye. The first was an animal encyclopedia, brimming with vibrant pictures of animal life. The title was both filled with visuals and quite detailed about habitats and other relevant information. The cover made Seventeen think of his friend that the game was directed towards and how much he would enjoy this book. After all, Sixteen loved life and all of the creatures on the planet.

The second was a much smaller title, but it also dealt with animals. However, unlike the encyclopedia, this book only dealt with animals that were somewhere on the endangered species spectrum.

' _The Red Data Book. A catalog of animals from endangered to possibly extinct.'_

If he could find the creatures in that book, Seventeen would have quite the adventure to relay to Sixteen when he found him. Perhaps they could even travel together to search for some of these rare animals. Perhaps that could even be the next adventure.

Both of those were definitely coming along. After paying for a backpack, some pen and paper, and the six books, Seventeen left the bookstore and was ready to start his adventure. The trademark smirk etched on his face, the cyborg whispered one sentence to nobody in particular that lingered in the streets.

"Game on."

* * *

The region around North City was frigid and rugged. Outside of North City itself, there weren't very many large cities or towns dotting the area: life there was pretty unpleasant relative to living in other parts of the world, and unless people had been born in the area, many found reason to leave. Of the major regions on Earth, the North was the most isolated. It was also the least populous region, adding to its quietness.

While he noted that those conditions would suit the mild-mannered Sixteen, Seventeen had had his doubts that he would find his friend here. Sixteen never spoke to other people when they had traveled together, but that didn't explicitly mean that the large man disliked human beings. But while the northern region did not have many humans, it was devoid of life in general. It was not a particularly lush region, teeming with critters and the sound of wildlife. Even now, in the middle of summer, there was snow on the mountains. There was very little green to be seen.

Seventeen could see why Gero had seen this place fit to have his secret laboratory. An area with few people and harsh conditions. No human would willingly search this region forever. Few humans would even see this place as desirable.

However, the lack of people and animals meant that Seventeen had been free to train without a real fear of disturbing others. Nighttime provided its own cover, with the dual-threat of darkness and cold giving people very little rationale for being out in the wee hours of the night. The mountains also had a number of caves where Seventeen could stay away from others and work on basics.

The martial arts book had been quite handy. Seventeen took in the information quickly, learning all he could about various fighting stances, techniques, and counters. He had resolved early to push his body to its limits when training, and that meant using as little of his cybernetic enhancements to improve his basic strength. When he wasn't physically training, Seventeen would use the time to meditate. He took note of a few breathing exercises and would work on sharpening his other senses by trying to pick out things around him with his eyes closed.

While it had taken some time to get used to, Seventeen slowly began being able to pick out the distinguished sounds of life around him. The subtle crunch of snow on boots, the soft chirp of what birds were in the area, the roar of a car engine on the road. By blocking out his sight, Seventeen found that he could force his other senses, namely hearing, to compensate. While his cybernetics had improved his human sensory capabilities, Seventeen wanted to improve them even further. He had been caught off guard, entirely unaware that Cell had snuck behind him. He would not make that mistake again.

Seventeen also reviewed past fights, both his own and those in his database. He became meticulous in analyzing how various fighters approached their matches. Which hands they favored, the stances they used, their attack patterns, favorite techniques: all of these were things he tried to note. While watching, Seventeen tried using his improved knowledge and understanding of martial arts to decipher good and bad maneuvers, as well as improvements. Before long, he had gone through his own fights with Piccolo and Cell, as well as some of Goku's older fights. The cyborg wished that he had some sort of training pattern: replaying fights in his head was helpful, but he wanted to re-enact a fight and then put his own spin and try to improve on a particular fighter's approach.

During the days, he would explore the mountains and caves for Sixteen and meditate in a cave or outside. During the nights, he would find an open area to go through some basic training. Seventeen found quickly that, despite his cybernetics, he could only last about two weeks without sleep. After a disorienting experience where he found himself awake in a pile of snow, Seventeen made an effort to get some sleep each day, either through a daytime nap or a light rest in the evenings.

Two months eventually came and went, and despite a thorough search, Seventeen came to the conclusion that Sixteen was definitely not in the North. There hadn't been much to see in the area, and he still felt bad vibes from the area, so Seventeen was more than ready to explore a different corner of the world. As the date for his first meeting with Eighteen approached, Seventeen prepared for his departure.

* * *

Seventeen had arrived in Central City early in the morning before realizing that he and Eighteen had never agreed on a time: just the date and place. Figuring that she would show up sooner or later, he sat on a bench and pulled out a book from his backpack. Glancing at the cover, he recognized it as the chess guide.

Hours passed as the city began to awaken. Chatter was buzzing from the heart of the metropolis as lunchtime came and went. But Seventeen sat, absorbed in his book. Lessons on piece movement, value, and opening theory went.

About a quarter of the way through the book, Seventeen heard something approaching from above. It wasn't like the birds from the mountains, and it didn't have the sound of the planes that flew overhead.

Ah: Eighteen was approaching. _'Guess the sensory training really is paying off, if I can hear her approaching from that distance.'_

Closing his book and packing up his things, Seventeen stood to greet his sister.

"Well, what a surprise. Thought you'd be goofing off somewhere. I didn't actually expect you to be the one waiting for me."

"Is that any way to greet your favorite brother, Eighteen?"

"You're my only brother, Seventeen. That also makes you the worst brother, idiot."

The two traded blank expressions before simultaneously grinning slightly. No matter what, family was still family, and the twins really got along well despite the petty sibling squabbles.

"As much as it'd be nice to chat out here, it's a little too open for me. How about we go to a restaurant or something to chat?"

Before Eighteen could protest, Seventeen dashed off into the heart of the city.

"Wait for me, you idiot!"

A few minutes later, Eighteen had caught up with her twin outside a café. She hadn't remembered putting forth that level of effort in a while. Had he gotten faster?

Whatever it was, she was slightly annoyed by her brother's antics. The two had been quickly seated and had their orders taken (though Eighteen decided to just have water).

"Why did you insist on going to a café, Seventeen?"

"Lighten up, sis. I just want some hot tea and a snack: what's wrong with that?"

"We don't need food, and we can regulate our temperatures. And you've been out in the sun for a bit anyway. What's the point of this?"

"Does there have to be a point? Isn't it fine to just do what we want? Not everything has to be logical. After being cooped up in the mountains for a couple months, I've come to appreciate fine dining!"

Eighteen rolled her eyes and scoffed in annoyance. Somehow, her brother had gotten more insufferable in the two months apart. "Tea hardly classifies as fine dining. You're such a child, Seventeen. And where do we have the money for this? You're not going to just walk out on me with the bill, are you? Because you're so dead if you do."

"Nope: no need to worry about money! Remember those bikers from the mountains? Funny story..."

To his delight, Seventeen found that Eighteen saw the motorcycle ordeal to be just as comical as he did. When the waitress arrived with Seventeen's cup of tea and sandwich, she had to wait for the laughter to die down before serving the table.

"I need to remember that for the future. There are so many opportunities to get easy money in the world, and if you can get some goon to pay double so easily, I sure as hell can too. So you still have some money left over?"

"Outside of some books and the occasional meal here or there in the city, I haven't needed to spend a lot. I'd just sleep in one of the caves in the mountains, and it's not hard finding some fruit or fish around the area when I want to eat something. I've still got around sixty-thousand zeni, more or less. As the better twin, I don't burn all my money on clothes."

"Watch it, asshole. I can burn your stack of cash to nothing pretty quickly."

Seventeen learned that Eighteen had also missed Sixteen badly. She had wanted to reflect on their time together, and she found herself returning to the islands where Seventeen and Piccolo had fought, as well as the specific island where her twin had ultimately been absorbed. Afterwards, she had gone where she had ultimately met the same fate. While there, she had run into one of Son Goku's friends.

"I ran into the little old guy again."

"The one with the shiny head?"

"He has a name, you know?"

"I don't hear you using it, hypocrite."

Eighteen's eyes fell, and suddenly, Seventeen's drink was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Why does the little guy make you so uncomfortable, Eighteen? I get that he made the wish for us, but this is so unlike you."

His twin just sank her chin into her crossed arms and mumbled something into her shirt.

"What was that?"

"I said I hate owing people stuff. And I owe him big time."

Oh? Now this was very interesting, indeed.

"Go on."

Sighing, Eighteen looked at her twin and wondered if he could actually help her out.

"Right before Cell absorbed me on that island, Krillin confronted me and Sixteen. The two of us were so focused on watching Vegeta and Cell fight that neither of us picked up on him approaching. I only knew he was there because he dropped something."

"Something? You're being awfully vague, Eighteen."

"Damn it, Seventeen. Can you show an ounce of patience?"

Chuckling, the self-proclaimed better twin leaned back, giving Eighteen a cue to continue.

"I didn't think much of it. After all, we know he's much weaker than either of us, and he didn't even try to fight us on that mountain highway. But then I saw what he dropped. It was an emergency deactivation controller."

" **What?** "

Some heads turned at Seventeen's outburst. He hadn't even realized that he had abruptly stood in response to Eighteen's recollection. Seventeen sat down again, his expression morphing to a more serious one.

"Tell me everything. Now."

"I was getting there. I was stunned too: how did he get a hold of one of those? You had destroyed the one in Gero's lab, and then the dramatic purple-haired kid blasted the lab to pieces. But no matter how he got a shutdown controller, he had one. And all he had to do to deny Cell his complete form was press a button. Even with my speed, I couldn't have closed the gap on him quickly enough."

Eighteen just stopped, as if she couldn't continue for some reason.

"So how are you here? That makes no sense!"

Eighteen looked up to make eye contact with her twin. The expression on his sister's face was one he had never seen before. She seemed...confused? It was something beyond confusion. She seemed bothered, as if something inexplicable had happened that she couldn't begin to bring herself to understand.

"Seventeen, he destroyed the controller. He told me to run and get away. He had the option of shutting me down and destroying me, of preventing Cell from becoming complete, and he chose to try and save my life instead. And I'm fucking lost as to why, but I'm thankful. Even though he couldn't stop Cell from getting me in the end, how could I not be grateful to him?"

He had destroyed the controller? For what purpose? He could have saved the planet: instead, he took the completely illogical option.

And yet, Seventeen was immensely grateful. When nobody would have shown his sister any mercy, he had.

The mini-monk...no: Krillin. His actions, from the wish to destroying the deactivation controller, elevated the short man in Seventeen's eyes. The very least he could do was refer to him by his name.

Suddenly, it clicked. Why Krillin would have destroyed the controller. Why he wished for their humanity and the removal of the self-destruct devices. And why his sister was reacting this way and so uncomfortable with everything. A wicked grin appeared on Seventeen's face.

' _Not yet. I want to keep prying before I confirm this theory.'_

"So you ran into him on the island after we went our separate ways. Did you two talk about the weather?"

Eighteen became flustered, and he could see a hint of rose in her cheeks. Embarrassed now, were we?

"I might have beat his short ass into the island."

Seventeen had to stifle a chuckle. That was **peak** Eighteen. Entirely incapable of dealing with her human side.

"I-I was only stressed about things, and he didn't help, okay! Stop laughing! I hadn't let loose in a long time, and I've been worried about things, so the stress got to me! How do you deal with it? Playing games?"

Oh, she was really blowing a fuse.

"For your information, dear sister, I train and meditate. Unlike you, I can actually handle the human side of things quite well, and training's good for relieving stress and clearing the brain. You should do it sometime!"

"You're not the only one who trains and meditates, asshole! Every morning on the island with the bald guys!"

Immediately, Eighteen reeled back in regret, as she knew she had said too much. The grin just further widened and cemented itself onto Seventeen's face.

"How scandalous, Eighteen! Not one, but **two** guys?"

"Oh, fuck off. I don't believe this..."

"You have some explaining to do!"

Eighteen groaned as she held her face between her hands. She wanted to throttle her twin and mute that annoying sing-song voice, but she knew she dug herself into this hole.

"After I unceremoniously bashed the short monk into the island, he just laughed it off and took it in stride. I guess he was also going through a rough time. But he offered me a place to stay for the time being. Said there was an extra room. So I've been staying there. He's pretty perceptive and saw how stressed I was, so he lets me meditate with him and train a little."

"Is there all that is? So **boring** , Eighteen! I never took you to be the domestic type."

"Just because shorty has the hots for me doesn't mean anything. I'm only staying there as long as I want to: I'll leave eventually." Eighteen crossed her arms again, huffing in annoyance.

Bingo. An opportunity to possibly strengthen his theory.

"You sure about that, Eighteen? Sounds like the hots are mutual, if you catch my drift?"

Eighteen's glare could have cut Seventeen in half, but he wasn't intimidated. The teasing had built itself up to this point, but this was something she really needed to sort out.

"You want to repeat that again, Seventeen? Go ahead: if you really want to get your ass kicked soundly, I **dare** you to repeat yourself."

"Let's pay and get out of here before we talk about how you've got feelings for Krillin. I'd rather not cause a scene." He got up and motioned for the waitress, leaving the bill and tip before exiting. Eighteen followed behind him, but she was shaking in anger.

"Fuck you, Seventeen."

Turning back to his sister, Seventeen had a serious expression on his face.

"Denial is a powerful thing, dear sister."

Internally, Eighteen was seething. _'Don't be a hypocrite and preach about denial, when you're living in your own fantasy believing that Sixteen is alive!'_

"The desert. We can talk this out there. And we can finally let loose at full power. How exciting!"

"You're dead, Seventeen."

The malice was more than apparent in Eighteen's voice as she snarled at her twin. Seventeen knew how to push her buttons, but he had crossed the line. To insinuate that she could have feelings for the little guy...how **preposterous**.

As soon as the twins landed, Eighteen lunged, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks. However, Seventeen knew how his sister fought from previous spars. He had also gone through the trouble of analyzing his sister's fight against Vegeta. Her strike patterns hadn't changed much from before, so Seventeen found himself dodging and deflecting her blows with minimal effort.

"Did I strike a nerve back there, Eighteen? Did I say something wrong? Maybe about a certain monk?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Eighteen decided to go all-out. The twins were more-or-less equal in strength, so Seventeen wouldn't get off too badly hurt, but he needed to pay for this.

"You know" A sidestep.

"There's nothing wrong" Ducking two punches.

"With liking someone" Blocking a kick.

"Unless you think" Another sidestep.

"Liking Krillin is embarrassing." He grabbed both fists.

Cheeky asshole: he wasn't even trying? What the hell was this?

"Fight back, you ass! Stop patronizing me and actually try!"

Seventeen decided to indulge his sister. His training had really paid off. He could quickly see Eighteen's attacks, and in her fury, her technique was incredibly sloppy and predictable. But Seventeen also realized that his speed has improved, and that Eighteen, while clearly putting effort into the fight, was failing to remotely bother Seventeen with her assault.

Perhaps training without his cybernetics had drastically improved his fighting capabilities, but combined with the tactical side he had been working on, this would be a interesting test. He picked the fight he wanted to recreate, then launched himself forward.

Suddenly, Eighteen felt herself getting pushed back. Seventeen was attacking with a basic series of jabs and kicks, but he seemed to be...playing?

"It's pretty obvious you like him. And there's nothing wrong with liking someone, with liking Krillin. He's done a lot for us: for **you**."

Seventeen wondered if Eighteen realized that he was essentially mimicking Vegeta's fight with her on the highway. Probably not in this hot-headed state. That and he was continuously pushing her back, instead of tiring out like the Saiyan prince had. While Seventeen couldn't mimic Vegeta's form or lifelong combat experience, he could make up for it with perpetual energy and greater speed than the previous fight. The different circumstances and probable different outcome meant that she likely wouldn't connect two and two together.

"And you can chalk that up to him liking you, but your reaction is completely ridiculous if you actually don't care about him."

Unlike before, Eighteen couldn't just block the assault: instead, she had to focus on dodging and less on being able to counterattack. But Seventeen knew that his stance closed off the possibility of a counterattack, as long as he never relented on offensive pressure. He had already gotten used to her dodging patterns and decided to start varying strikes and creating his own version of a past fight.

Mental simulations were one thing, but playing out an alternative version of a fight in real-time was wholly unique. He was really enjoying himself. But the point of this wasn't to enjoy the fight.

"You're unable to refer to him by name, probably to convince yourself you don't care. But you're also embarrassed about being cold to him. You feel grateful to him for the things he's done, when you never show gratitude to anybody."

Slowly, the blows were adding up. Seventeen couldn't believe it. Just a couple months ago, the twins had been relatively evenly matched. Now, he was holding back and overpowering his twin in speed and strength, recreating a fight she had won and turning the tables on her instantly.

"Stop denying that you're indifferent to Krillin. It's obvious you like him, that you're thankful for all the things he's done for you, without him asking anything of you in return."

With a final strike, Seventeen decisively finished his counterattack, and Eighteen fell to the sand, soundly defeated.

Perhaps he had overdone it. Maybe he could have pretended to show some effort. Eighteen was proud of her abilities, but to be overwhelmed convincingly by her younger twin had to be damaging to her pride.

Eighteen got on one knee, growling. She braced herself to get up, ready to enter a second round, but Seventeen calmly caught up to her and knelt down to get to eye-level with her.

"You know, he won't stick around forever, right?"

Eighteen recoiled in shock.

"What do you mean?"

"Eighteen, if you keep this up, you're just going to end up needlessly hurting him and yourself. He doesn't have to care about you or like you: he chooses to. But just as he chooses to now, it won't stop him from not if there's nothing but pain for him."

"But-"

"Eighteen, listen to me. We're not real. We were taken from our lives and made into machines to kill someone and fulfill an old man's personal vendetta. And along the way, even that purpose got taken from us, and we became power sources for some insect freak. We're not important. We don't mean anything. We don't matter."

Seventeen closed his eyes and sighed. He didn't really want to deal with the truth that he still didn't know what he wanted to do. That he had no idea what to do with his life after this ordeal with Sixteen.

But Eighteen. She had an opportunity. A chance to live a **normal** life. A family, being with someone who cared about her. Who treated her normally. These were things that Eighteen didn't outwardly express as things she desired, but Seventeen knew that deep down, his sister wanted to be normal and human just as much as he did.

"But in Krillin, he knows of the things that we find least desirable about ourselves. He knows and understands that we aren't human. And he doesn't care. Not only does he not care about your lack of a past, but he's gone out of his way to help us without expecting anything in return. To him, you are important. You mean something. You matter. And you're willing to throw all of that away because you deny that you actually feel something for him? Because you're afraid to confront your feelings and the possibility that you might actually like him back?"

"He's just doing it because I kissed him on that highway! There's no way anyone could actually care for us. **We're not real, Seventeen! Humans can't care for us the way they care for each other, so I'm doing myself a favor and saving myself from getting hurt down the line when this all breaks!** "

Finally, he had coaxed the answer from Eighteen, who was screaming at him. Unfortunately, she was in tears, forced to confront the harsh reality that she, in fact, did have real feelings for the short martial artist. Forced to confront her feelings, that she actually **liked** the idea of being with him, but **terrified** of it not working out.

"Don't be ridiculous, Eighteen. Didn't you hear anything I had to say? He doesn't care about cybernetics or anything like that. He's best friends with a Saiyan, for crying out loud, and even Son Goku has settled with a human."

Seventeen embraced his sister, trying to give her support and courage to go face this issue head on.

"To him, you're not unnatural or inhuman. You're just you. If he's really accepted you as you are, then these fears are just silly, aren't they?"

Eighteen choked back her sobs as she tried to stop herself from crying.

"Do...do you really think it could work out? I'm scared that this is all too good to be true, that Gero has us still in stasis and that he'll wake us. That this will all go away. That all of this wasn't real."

Seventeen smiled softly. Even his big, strong, twin sister had her fears. But this wasn't anything she needed to be terrified of. Things would work out.

"Yes: I think this can work. And I think it could be good for you. But you need to talk to him and face this, for your sake and his. It might be impossible to find another person on the planet who knows about us and accepts us anyway. If you two actually care for each other, then don't avoid the subject."

Seventeen broke his hug and stood, offering a hand to Eighteen to help her up.

"That means today, got it? First thing when you get back to Kame House, talk to him. Lay it on the table. You might not like dealing with emotions and the human element, but you need to every once in a while."

Refreshed, and perhaps even a little hopeful, Eighteen took Seventeen's hand and helped herself up from the desert.

"Tonight...yeah: tonight sounds like a good time."

* * *

"Same time in two months?"

While Seventeen was curious to hear all about how her sister's relationship would be going, he still had his brother to find somewhere. He had decided on spending some time around East City next.

Both twins felt refreshed after dealing with the issue of Eighteen's feelings, though Eighteen was going to have an interesting time explaining her extremely ruffled appearance to her soon-to-be significant other.

"Yeah: two months sounds good. And around the same time too."

"Then I'll see you then. Oh, and Seventeen?"

"Yeah, sis?"

"Thank you."

"Just let me know when I'm officially going to be a brother-in-law."

"You ass!"

* * *

 **A/N:** This was a much lengthier chapter than anticipated. This one kinda wrote itself, and the original plan for this chapter deviated. That's why this chapter, despite being longer than both the prologue and first chapter, got done in a shorter time than either of those. Some things.

Zeni are supposed to have the same value as yen. For those familiar with the American dollar, the generic calculation I'm using is 1 dollar = 100 zeni. So the prize for the motorcycle race was $500, doubled to $1000, and Seventeen has around $600 left at the café when he meets up with Eighteen. The actual calculation is slightly different (closer to $1 = 110, but 1:100 makes the monetary values much easier).

Since Super, people have had questions regarding Seventeen's major power jump. In the anime, he's able to fight evenly with Son Goku in Super Saiyan Blue, though both have admitted to holding back. My personal theory is that the cybernetic enhancements essentially act as a super power boost, similar to Super Saiyan or Kaio-ken. Super Saiyan has a multiplier of x50 to each fighter's power level. By that logic, cybernetic enhancements could serve a similar function, though obviously on a much larger scale.

The Red Ribbon tracking bots that were used to scout information and gather cells for the genesis of Cell existed during the Saiyan Saga when Vegeta and Nappa first land. Gero would have known about the existence of Kaio-ken and possibly taken some inspiration from that technique in modifying Seventeen and Eighteen.

We don't really know if Seventeen and Eighteen had any sort of martial arts training when they were kidnapped. So I've set their martial arts experience at a limited amount. With Seventeen training but not relying on his cybernetic enhancements, he's essentially powering up the human portion of his body, which then gets multiplied by his cybernetics. That, along with his more calculating and tactical fighting style, allows him to overwhelm Eighteen in this spar.

We never get full confirmation on whether Seventeen knows about Krillin destroying the controller, but it made sense for Eighteen to reveal it here. And she's extremely insecure about her feelings, but it's very obvious how much she really does care for Krillin (despite the fandom's tendency to mock and disparage their relationship at every moment, which is really bothersome). Seventeen's my favorite individual character in the Dragon Ball franchise, but K18 is my favorite ship of the fandom, and both Eighteen and Krillin are among my five favorite characters as well.

Please review and give me suggestions! Let me know what you think of this so far!


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